NATUC raises safety concerns

His first concern dealt with question of whether the construction workers were unionised or not. He said, “I’m sure there is no union there. And contractors are hiring people that aren’t protected by a union which is a problem. If a shop steward was there, he would have ensured that the necessary safety precautions were put in place for the workers’ safety.”

Guiseppi questioned the safety precautions, if any at all were put in place by the contractors. He said, “I’m sure that there was no safety supervisor at the site. And that ought to be an important ingredient in all construction work sites. Were there life cables and harnesses that must be worn by every worker on high rise buildings.

Guiseppi also wanted to know if the construction site had a Safety Officer with a good knowledge of the OSHA Act. “Management is supposed to have a Safety Committee. If there is one associated with that project, when was the last time they met? What were the results of that meeting? There is an OSHA Act which people are supposed to follow. The Act is in place and employers must oblige by setting up a safety committee in their work places,” he said.

The third area of concern dealt with what he felt government’s position ought to be at this time. He said, “Seeing that there are endless areas of deficiencies on work sites, the Minister of Labour must put some emergency committee together where we could assist the ministry in preventing these occurrences.”